Three day weekends are nice. It means I can stay up late on Sunday playing FFIII and not have to worry about trying to wake up at a reasonable hour the next day. On the other hand, I started working on a novel (again...one of these days I will finish one), with the intent to actually finish it. Right now the goal is 30,000 words by the time I leave training (Feb 23). Here's hoping. Don't ask to see it, 'cause I won't show you 'till it's done.

On the other side of things, I own 3 of the 4 James Bond collections, and I'll probably pick up the fourth sometime with my giant Amazon.com gift certificate I got from tossing all of my change into a Coinstar (~$174). Then, of course, the rest will be games and the like. I'm gonna head on up to Auburn University tonight to see a friend and grab some grub, then I'll be back down here to post this thing.

L E T T E R S

This isn't the first time I've heard this.

Hi Josh.

I had no idea you were going to join the air force. Enjoy your time. I'm guessing it has something to do with your degree or did you just really love Topgun?

Josh

It was a combination of getting to go to college for free in combination with the fact that I didn't have to look for a job coming out of college. And, having military service on your resumé is pretty damn good.

PSA: But, I must say this - all of you, listen up, so you don't do this in the future.

Top Gun was about the NAVY.

Thank you.

What're you going to do there, and for how long? Here in Israel army service is mandatory for three years. I really enjoyed the first half of my service, until I moved to a different job (role? position? assignment?) with... the air force. The people there weren't that nice, compared to where I was before. :-)

Josh

I am going to be in Robins AFB, and I have no idea for how long. Most people across the services here are ok, but there are jackasses everywhere, it's nothing confined to just one area of society. Hehe.

Anyway, I have similarly succumbed to the DS. Mine isn't here yet - I've got some friends coming over from the US in two weeks. I've got a friend here who already has a DS and plenty of games, so that's good news. On the other hand, in exactly two weeks, all of my tests begin. I guess an hour a night will have to do.

I think what broke the camel's back was FFIII. It seems like so much fun, and I like job systems a lot.

Zohar Gilboa

Josh

FFIII was a very good reason for me to pick up the DS, as well as the announcement of DQIX. That was probably what did it for me. But then there were the Castlevania games, Metroid, and Zelda, too. While I still like my PSP for non-RPGs (GTA, MGS, etc.), the DS is definitely the system to go with for Role Playing.

Good luck on your tests! I'm sure the DS will be a useful studying tool...

Why am I drinking Diet Coke at 9AM?

Hey hey hey fellas and beautiful ladies. Matt, and Ouro, you two rule.
Just had to point that out, not that yall don't do a great job of that
already. Anyway, let's get down to the brass here.

Josh

Thank you, thank you. You hear that, gaming industry? We rule.

Now give me a job, dammit.

I'm really disappointed in the lack of action RPG's these days. The only
two games I'm looking forward to are Dawn of Mana, and Rogue Galaxy. It's
about time they took Mana into the 3rd dimension. I've been saying that for
years, and it's finally come true. I'd love to see a remake of the first in
3D. A perfect parallel 3d of Secret of Mana. Secret of Mana is still the
best action rpg adventure ever! So my first question is, when is it coming
out? Huh huh? Because it's my biggest jones right now. Or when do you
speculate it is going to come out, or if we'll even get it? I'd would be
certainly become a mouse in a teapot at a Mad Hatter un-birthday hearing the
word, you know, C-A-T!

Josh

Rather than point out that technically Final Fantasy Adventure was the first in the Seiken Densetsu series (d'oh!), I'll just go ahead and agree. I haven't liked the Mana series since Seiken Densetsu 3 (Secret of Mana 2), so...pretty much Legend of Mana was what killed it for me. That game was dull in ways I'd never imagined. Very pretty, though. I might give it another shot someday.

As for release dates...As for a Secret of Mana remake...I don't think there's going to be too much about that any time soon. I mean, they did remake Final Fantasy Adventure (Sword of Mana), but...currently, there aren't any plans for a remake, as far as I know. Dawn of Mana was released in Japan on 12.21.2006, and is set for a Q1 release here. Rogue Galaxy will be here by the end of the month!

The only action rpg second to the first Mana in my opinioin is Illusion of
Gaia. Yes, I enjoyed it far more than Terranigma, even though I still love
that game as well. Gaia just seemed to be the more refined game, and I
thought the story was much more enthralling. So here is my next
question...why doesn't the ol' S-E make another one of these in 3D? That
would be slicker than grease! Are at least a fancy port of all three of
those games to the DS, or GBA??? I'm getting a little sick of the Final
Fantasy blitz we've seen in the last decade by Square. I was super joyed
when I heard Enix was going to Square, because I knew they would breathe
life into them, but I've expected a little more.

Josh

Illusion of Gaia was a great game. However, I'm pretty sure it was underappreciated everywhere. While S-E could probably make some more dough pumping out remake after remake, they should really concentrate on making newer, original games. Sure, an upgrade to graphics and such is nice, but you're already played the game. FFIII was fine, since we didn't get it over here, but honestly, I beat the original! And luckily, they made enough improvements, and it's been so long, that the game doesn't seem the exact same as it did. But that's usually not the case with remakes. You know, maybe an extra class here, a slight graphical improvement...meh. Besides, while Illusion of Gaia was great, there was absolutely no reason to go back and play it once you beat it.

So that's it, been buggin' to get that off the ol' chest there, but we got
it. And on my last note, you guys should consider letting Carabbit hosting,
her taste is flawless, and she's absolutely gorgeous, so come on, just ask
her.

Ian William
P.S. Last Exile rules

Josh

Well, she doesn't work here anymore, I believe...so she'll have to win it somehow! Mwahahahahahaha!!!

You are getting sleeeeeeeepy...

Lieutenant Martz -

One letter, man that's some bull, now I feel bad for not writing in yesterday. Anyways, welcome back, merry christmas and happy new year to ya. Let me just start off by saying thanks for your service to our country. My former roomate/current roomates brother is in the Air Force in Georgia right now, he just had a son yesterday (if she just could have held off two more days me and the kid coulda shared a birthday, oh well) and I've got lot's of family in various branches of the military, and while I'm against this war in Iraq, I do hope all of our guys kill the hell out of anyone trying to kill them. I know emotions run deep on that issue so I won't say any more about it, but thanks.

Josh

Hey, I'm heading to Georgia to live, once I get done with training.

And I'm sure I'll get sent over there at some point, so I'll definitely be sure to do what I can. Still no idea what the hell I will be doing, though. I wish they'd tell you something more than "Communications Officer." Sheesh.

I see Okami is no longer on your current RPG's list, so I assume you beat it. I just polished it off today, it turned out to be much deeper than I had expected in a very pleasant way. I really thought I was going to be done with it round the time I got my Wii, and it became my weekend game after that with Zelda being played during the week after work, but I'm glad I pressed forward with it. A really well put together game that kept adding new elements that kept me interested consistently the whole way through, enough so that the copy of FF XII I got for Christmas is still in plastic, although that will change as soon as I catch up on my basketball season in NBA 2K7.

Josh

Heh...it's not so much that it's finished so much that my PS2 isn't hooked up. Though Bully's on there, no? I'm very fickle, and I play upwards of 20 games at any given time. I'll definitely beat Okami, it's on my to do list, but people need to stop giving me games for Christmas and such, because it always messes up my priority list.

That's good to hear about Okami, though. I was starting to get worried about it. While I love the game in general, the 'random' fights you get into from time to time are just a nuisance rather than fun, to me. Boss fights are entertaining, as is the world overall.

I also see the GTA's on your list of RPG's, isn't that some form of blasphemy. Don't get me wrong I've played and enjoyed them both (Vice City Stories is really the one to play in my book, I really love the feeling of flying in those games. Oh, I just thought of this, I know in the Navy pilots are officers pretty much automatically, are you training to be a pilot?) anyways I thought the consensus around these parts was those don't count. Although in my opinion San Andreas is close just because you really can build stats like health and stamina; and skills in how good you are with your various guns, driving skill, piloting skills, heck even riding bikes, that game's deep.

Josh

Yeah, I forgot that it had said "Order of RPG-Playing." Fixed. Hehehe.

Vice City is the best, agreed. And I think they count, why wouldn't they? GTAII had those London spin-offs. San Andreas is fun, too, but the stats seem needlessly tacked on (at least the strength and stuff. Guns are useful), so much that you don't really 'need' them so much as they just kinda give you that extra boost if you want them, It irritates me when missions require you to have a certain level in something (like that damned swimming mission...sigh).

Christmas for me consisted of the afore mentioned FF XII and a contribution towards the computer I'm writing to you with as a combination early Christamas/birthday several months ago (did I mention I'm 30 on Sunday, old, old ,old, old, old). I should be getting a copy of Sega Genesis Collection for my PSP for that birthday too, portable Phantasy Star goodness, oh boy!

Josh

The Genesis collection is looking pretty good to me, too, especially since I never even knew about Phantasy Star until about 6 years ago. I wasn't truly into RPGs until Chrono Trigger came out, and while I went back and played a bunch of RPGs that came out before it, I never picked up Phantasy Star. Now's my chance!

As for the DS winning the portable war, I'd say in some ways it has to be expected. I mean it has an automatic library in the GBA games, which is a big incentive, both for people who already owned the GBA to stay the path of Nintendo, and to people like me who didn't and now have a chance to hop on things like the FF ports and Golden Sun and such. I know I had a blast playing FF IV last summer, and although I'm not very far in yet, I'm enjoying what I've played so far of FF III. I do have to say though that on technical merits I like my PSP more. I enjoy the fact that on my lunch break at work I can watch an episode of The Office, or Weeds,or whatever while I eat and then switch over and game for whatever time I have left on break. Also the games themselves are just incredible to play, I'm way more impressed with how it renders things in 3D as opposed to the one game I've played on DS that actually tried it (Metroid Prime Hunters), and we should have some good ones coming in Crisis Core, and the Tactics remake, and Jeanne d' Arc. If Sony can stick with it and make their next portable backwards compatible I think the generation yet to come could be a much closer battle.

Josh

Well...technically, the PSP is backwards compatible with the PSX. Sort of. They're working on it. Stupid how you need a frickin' PS3 to do it, though.

The PSP is good. I agree. There are many, many good things about it. However, one of its neatest qualities is also its biggest failing point. It's a media player. UMDs? Dumbest ****ing thing ever. I'm not talking about the games, I'm talking about the movies. Why? A portable DVD player is cheaper than a PSP (by far), and if you have a PSP, and the movie you want to watch in DVD, you have to go buy the movie again in another format. Stupid, stupid idea, and Sony should never have tried it. If they had stuck to it being just a gaming device (and possible MP3 player/video player by way of memory stick), then it would have been fine, I think. Because really, it's more powerful than the DS, definitely, and it can do some pretty sweet stuff. Sony's just too arrogant to do certain marketing which would, well, actually BENEFIT them.

Be that as it may, as far as non-RPGs go, I love the games for it.

Anyway's, once again I write as I watch football, and the Saint's are trying to do something late, so I think I'll be going.

Out like Trout,
kezzy

Josh

After watching 5 years of college football, I really couldn't care less about the NFL. Maybe I'll go become a Falcons fan when I move to GA. Take care!

Well, there goes my New Year's resolution...

You think you can take me? Go ahead on. It's your move!

In related news, I cannot find my VHS copy of Final Justice. Damnit. But
we had to have a Joe Don Baker day sooner or later.

Actual tie-in of MST3K to RPG playing! While fighting on a roll of film in
San Francisco, I encountered a couple of kinds of aliens. One is that thing
with the visible brain from This Island Earth (I SHOULD remember the name
but all I can think of is Crow saying 'Is he wearing slacks?'). The other
is the Venusian pickle from It Conquered the World.

Josh

How is this related to RPG-playing?

Oh boy... played some more Tengai Makyou IV this morning. This included a
shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone with three guys dressed up like
bandits in a Western, then a fight with their leader, Madame Appetit. Who
first sang to me an ode to the glories of food, from what I could gather.
Incidentally she's a giant pig woman with an ugly cat slung around her
shoulders. And she hit hard. With nasty attacks like 'Happy Hour.'
Right afterwards the game went even further beyond normal bounds, with what
looked like a satellite from orbit sending a gigantic laser beam to
eradicate Tombstone. In 1899. Yup.

Now I have to hit the Carlsbad Caverns to reach Houston from Arizona! Gotta
get the disc change to work!

Josh

Well, of course, that's that old laser beam we stuck up there in the 70s to deter the Russians.

Langrisser III, so I hear, plays somewhat like the Growlanser games. But
regardless of how it looks, I couldn't understand what I was doing in
battle. And that's not a good sign in a tactical title. Hell, you were
able to play a Langrisser title in Korean - good evidence of how instinctive
the usual combat system is. III is not nearly as intuitive, and that repels
me unless I find a good FAQ.

Alright Ouro. Enough skating around this. I've reviewed the first two
Sakura Wars games on RPGamer, and I want you to read both of those reviews.
Once that's done, you'll know roughly 133.268^4 times more about the games
than you currently do. If you still want to make fitfully amusing comments
about them afterwards, be my guest. But learn enough to be informed!
Particularly when Sakura Wars 3 and 4 have arrived.

Josh

*skates*

You realize that if I read *your* reviews, I'll still only know as much or less than you do, correct? So this is ultimately a fruitless endeavor.

The new issue of EGM packs some interesting reviews. Twilight Princess
garners three 10's, earning it a Platinum. Final Fantasy V earns two 9's
and an 8.5. Last issue FFIII garnered two 8's and a 7. Interesting.
Random thought; has anyone considered putting pampas grass as an enemy into
an RPG? The stuff can be damned hard to kill after all.

Josh

For the record, I've never liked EGM.

Also, I think your mind might need to take a break for awhile if you're wondering stuff like that.

I noticed that you bowed out of this, leaving it all to Bainick. But no
more dodging the question - with $2000 US on the table, and the ONLY outlet
acquisition of a Saturn library, what will you buy? It's not THAT hard,
although you'll have to delve into imports. So divulge!

Blast! Break's almost over, and I've yet to beat a single game! Use your
magical powers and fix this! With the holiday rush behind us, what is there
to look forward to? Not that I'll get around to playing any new games for
years to come with my massive backlog...

Vicissitude

Let's see...Rogue Galaxy, WoW:Burning Crusade (if that's your thing), Chrono Break (kidding), Ar Tonelico, Lunar Knights, Pokemon Diamond/Pearl...Surprisingly, there aren't too many RPGs coming out in the next two months or so, so you should have a nice break with which you can play catch up!

Hey! Welcome back! Of course we missed you. We just
didn't know you when were coming back. I guess my
main question is... When the world needs saving,
which do I save, Dalmasca or Hyrule? Christmas has
opened so many possibilities. Now I just have to
figure out if that is a good thing or bad thing.

Draconn

That's a toughie. I'd go with Hyrule, just because you can probably beat Zelda faster than you can beat Final Fantasy XII. Both are great games, though. But, if you play FFXII first, you're going to be jonesing for Zelda for a lot longer than if you did it vice-versa.

S E G U E

And here we go...

PureLunatic, let me know when you want me to send your XSIII book.

Bucket will be cohosting on January 22.

Arros Raikou, let me know when you want to cohost. Sundays/Mondays are preferable.

Another day come and gone. Good stuff, though. So while I sit here munching on my Honey Nut Chex Mix, why not sit down and share your thoughts? Not a running monologue, mind you, but something poetic. Let your muse flow.